4000 FINE MAY FORCE SANCTUARY TO CLOSE

A donkey sanctuary in Nerja will have to close if the council insists that it pays a 4,320 euro fine because it doesn't have the funds to do so. The voluntary organisation, which also rescues other types of animal, says the fine is unjust because it asked permission from the Town Hall when it needed to build a shelter to protect the animals and food supplies in bad weather, and was told that permission wasn't needed because this would only be a temporary structure without concrete walls, built in an agricultural area by a non profit-making organisation. Now, two and a half years later, it has been notified that it is being fined for a town planning offence. The organisation relies on donations and is run by volunteers. It works closely with the Guardia Civil's environmental squad, Seprona, and with the Local Police and has rescued about 1,000 animals and found homes for more than 600 horses and donkeys and 300 dogs and cats since 2004. The sanctuary has more than 4,000 members in the Axarquía district, and was visited by 60,000 people last year.